Category Archives: Evolution

Evolution, Darwin, Geddes, and the Growth of Cities

The Urban Morphology Lab

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Michael Batty

Someone from ETH Zurich Future Cities Lab showed me a fascinating book by Serge Salat called Cities and Forms (Hermann Editions, Paris, 2011). Haven’t managed to get it (ugh! French Publishers!) but downloaded his paper “Systemic Resilience of Complex Urban Systems: … Continue reading →

Posted in Allometry, Complex Systems, Evolution, Fractal Geometry, Scaling, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Fractal Architecture

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Michael Batty

Much of this site is about the morphology of cities using fractal geometry as one of the key unifying themes. But it is in architecture that the real modularity of fractals has become a central feature in design. Harris’s exposition … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Evolution, Fractal Geometry, Morphology | Leave a comment

Complexity Theories of Cities Have Come of Age

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Michael Batty

A new book on complexity and cities edited by Juval Portugali, Han Meyer, Egbert Stolk and Ekim Tan with the intriguing title that what we do has come of age. Well maybe, maybe not, I leave you to be the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cellular Automata, Complex Systems, Design, Emergence, Evolution, Morphology, Urban Dynamics | Leave a comment

Extreme MegaCities

Posted on December 10, 2011 by Michael Batty

James Canton in a prescient article in Significance argues that cities will diversify as they get larger. Like Dobbs & Remes in their McKinsey report, he argues there is effectively no limit on their growth. At least not in terms … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Scaling, Smart Cities, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Spatial Complexity

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Michael Batty

Started my new lecture course on Spatial Complexity at Arizona State University. It’s killing me doing relatively new stuff day after day. Lectures are posted after given: Seven so far, the last on Wednesday (2/11) (at http://www.spatialcomplexity.info/

Posted in Complex Systems, Evolution, Scaling, Social Physics | Leave a comment